Georges St-Pierre
Georges St-Pierre, often referred to as GSP or Rush, is a Canadian mixed martial artist and the current Welterweight Champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. St-Pierre is ranked as one of the top "pound for pound" fighters by multiple MMA sources. St-Pierre has been praised by many media outlets for his well-rounded skill, and he is currently ranked by multiple MMA publications as the number-one welterweight in the world. In 2008 and in 2009, he was named the Canadian Athlete of the Year by Rogers Sportsnet, as well as the 2008 and 2009 Most Outstanding Fighter by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Georges St-Pierre also won fighter of the year by the 2009 World MMA Awards. Aside from being the two-time UFC Welterweight Champion, St-Pierre is also the former two-time defending TKO Major League MMA Welterweight Champion. Biography Early life Georges St-Pierre was born May 19, 1981 in Saint-Isidore, Montérégie, Quebec, to Jim and Louise St-Pierre. St-Pierre had a difficult childhood, attending a school where others would steal his clothes and money."Georges St.-Pierre leads Montreal to UFC glory", retrieved from Hour.ca, URL accessed July 6, 2007 He started learning Kyokushin karate at age seven by his father and later by a Kyokushin Karate Master to defend himself against a school bully."Montreal's MMA Warrior", retrieved from Knucklepit.com, URL accessed July 6, 2007 He took up wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after his karate teacher died, and he also trained in boxing. Before turning pro as a mixed-martial artist, St-Pierre worked as a bouncer at a Montreal night club in the South Shore called "Fuzzy Brossard" and as a garbageman for six months to pay for his school fees."Gold Rush", retrieved from Complex.com, URL accessed December 24, 2007 St-Pierre has trained with a number of groups in a large variety of gyms throughout his fighting career. Prior to his fight with B.J. Penn at UFC 58, he trained at the Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in New York City. St-Pierre received his brown belt in BJJ from Renzo Gracie on July 21, 2006."Fighter has big plans: St. Pierre eyes welterweight title and potential bout up north", retrieved from Slam.canoe.ca, URL accessed March 17, 2010 In September 2008, St-Pierre earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) under Bruno Fernandes."Zuffa Fighters get Belted", retrieved from UFC.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Eventually, St-Pierre began training with Rashad Evans, Nathan Marquardt, Keith Jardine, Donald Cerrone and other MMA fighters at Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting Gaidojutsu school in New Mexico. Some of Jackson's students accompanied St-Pierre to Montreal to help prepare him for his fight at UFC 94 against B.J. Penn at the Tristar Gym, including Keith Jardine, Nathan Marquardt, Donald Cerrone, and Rashad Evans. Georges' strength and conditioning coach is Jonathan Chaimberg of Adrenaline Performance Centre in Montreal. Georges' Head Trainer is Firas Zahabi of Zahabi MMA, out of the Tristar gym. The two have cornered all of St-Pierre's most recent bouts, and remain as his close friends. Currently, St-Pierre trains in Muay Thai under Phil Nurse at the Wat in New York City. MMA career Early career St-Pierre had dreamed of becoming a UFC champion since watching Royce Gracie fight in 1993 at UFC 1."Getting To Know Georges 'Rush' St-Pierre", retrieved from MMAFighting.com, URL accessed July 6, 2007 St-Pierre had his first amateur bout when he was only sixteen years old, fighting a much older competitor who was twenty-five years of age. St-Pierre won his fight by knockout, going low with several leg kicks and then going high with a kick to the head."Georges St-Pierre One Dream at a time...", retrieved from MMARingreport.com, URL accessed July 6, 2007 St-Pierre's pro debut was against Branden Macfadden, and the fight ended in a first round to-knockout win by St-Pierre. In only his second fight, St-Pierre's fought for the Universal Combat Challenge (UCC) Welterweight belt against Justin Bruckmann. He won by an arm bar in the first round. He then went on to defend his title twice. The UCC was then converted to the TKO Major League MMA and he was named their Welterweight Champion. He fought on November 29, 2003 against Pete Spratt in a non-title bout at TKO 14. St-Pierre defeated Spratt with a rear naked choke in the first round. Joining the UFC St-Pierre made his UFC debut at UFC 46, where he defeated Karo Parisyan by unanimous decision. His next fight in the UFC was against Jay Hieron at UFC 48. St-Pierre defeated Hieron via technical knockout in only 1:42 of the first round."UFC 48 Pictures: Georges St-Pierre vs Jay Hieron", retrieved from Sherdog.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Following his second win in the UFC, he faced Matt Hughes at UFC 50 for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship. Despite a competitive performance against the much more experienced fighter, St-Pierre tapped out to an armbar with only one second remaining in the first round."Weighty Issues", retrieved from Sherdog.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 The loss was the first of St-Pierre's career and he has since admitted that he was in awe of Hughes going into the title bout. Road to the Weltherweight title After his loss to Matt Hughes, St-Pierre rebounded with a win over Dave Strasser at TKO 19 by a first-round kimura submission."TKO 19 Pictures: Georges St-Pierre vs Dave Strasser", retrieved from Sherdog.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 He then returned to the UFC to face Jason "Mayhem" Miller at UFC 52, defeating Miller by unanimous decision in a bloody battle."Jason "Mayhem" Miller - Official Mixed Martial Arts Fighting Resume", retrieved from Mixedmartialarts.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 St-Pierre was then matched up against top contender Frank Trigg at UFC 54. St-Pierre controlled the fight and eventually took control with a rear naked choke with less than a minute remaining in the first round."Fight Finder - Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics", retrieved from Sherdog.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 He then faced future lightweight champion Sean Sherk at UFC 56. Midway through the second round, St-Pierre became the second fighter to defeat Sherk and the first to finish him."Fight Finder - Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics", retrieved from Sherdog.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 At UFC 58, St-Pierre defeated former UFC welterweight champion B.J. Penn to become the number-one contender for the UFC welterweight title. St-Pierre won the match by split decision and was set for a rematch against then-champion Matt Hughes at UFC 63. St-Pierre was forced to withdraw from the match, however, due to a groin injury and was replaced by the man he defeated in March, B.J. Penn."St-Pierre Sidelined by Injury; 'The Prodigy' to The Rescue", retrieved from UFC.com, URL accessed July 6, 2007 The UFC announced afterwards that St-Pierre would have the opportunity to fight for the title when he was fully healed. The Ultimate Fighter St-Pierre then appeared as a trainer on The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback on Spike TV, which featured fighters who were previously seen in UFC events including Matt Serra, Shonie Carter, Pete Sell, Patrick Côté, and Travis Lutter. St-Pierre was seen vocally supporting fellow Canadian and training partner Patrick Côté during the season's airing."In-Depth Pre-UFC 74 Interview With GSP", retrieved from Mmanews.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Winning the Welterweight championship At UFC 63 St-Pierre made an appearance to support fellow Canadian David "The Crow" Loiseau. At that time he was seen pushing Loiseau to "fight his fight" against Mike Swick. At the same event, after Matt Hughes had defeated B.J. Penn, St-Pierre stepped into the ring to hype up his upcoming title fight against Hughes, stating that he was glad that Hughes won his fight, but that he was "not impressed" by Hughes' performance. Apparently, this came in response to Hughes' saying that he had not been impressed by St-Pierre's recent victories."Georges St-Pierre "I'm not impressed by your performance" video", retrieved from MMAmania.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 According to both commentator Joe Rogan and Hughes' own autobiography, Hughes was unhappy with St-Pierre's statement. Hughes said that they "had words" off-camera shortly after, at which time St-Pierre apologized, saying he had misunderstood something Hughes had said on the microphone and did not mean to offend him. St-Pierre challenged Matt Hughes again at UFC 65 for the UFC Welterweight Championship. The fight was almost stopped near the end of the first round when St-Pierre sent Hughes to the mat with a superman punch and left hook, but Hughes managed to survive the first round. In the second round, St-Pierre won the fight via technical knockout after a left kick to Hughes' head followed by a barrage of unanswered punches and elbows. After the fight, on January 30, 2007, St-Pierre signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC."Georges St-Pierre signs new UFC deal", retrieved from mmaweekly.com, URL accessed February 9, 2009 Losing the title At UFC 69, St-Pierre lost the welterweight title to The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Matt Serra by technical knockout, due to strikes at 3:25 of round one. Matt Serra was an 11–1 underdog going into the bout"Georges St.-Pierre suffers loss to underdog Matt Serra at UFC 69: Shootout" retrieved from the Canadian Press, URL accessed March 2, 2009. St-Pierre has said that he lost the match partially due to a lack of focus because of problems in his personal life, including the death of a close cousin and his father suffering from a serious illness,"Georges St-Pierre's time to shine", retrieved from MMAjunkie.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 and later parted ways with his manager and most of his entourage. St-Pierre has since gone on to say that he should not have made any excuses and that Serra was simply the better fighter that night."Matt Serra: "I'm definitely up for" fighting Georges St-Pierre in April", retrieved from MMAmania.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Back into title contention On August 25, 2007, at UFC 74 St-Pierre won a unanimous decision against Josh Koscheck (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)."UFC 74 'Respect' results", retrieved from MMANews.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 He out-wrestled Koscheck, who is a four-time Division I NCAA All-American and an NCAA wrestling champion, by scoring takedowns, stopping Koscheck's takedown attempts and maintaining top position throughout most of the fight."St-Pierre indeed Outwrestled the Wrestler", retrieved from TheMMADigest.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Many predicted that Koscheck would outmatch St-Pierre on the ground due to his credentials, but St-Pierre was confident that he was a better wrestler and striker and was more well-versed in submissions than Koscheck."UFC calls on St-Pierre", retrieved from Sports.yahoo.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Before and after the fight, St-Pierre stated his intention to reclaim his lost title, miming the act of placing a championship belt around his waist while still in the octagon. His win over Koscheck had placed him in the number-one contender spot for the UFC Welterweight Championship. That fight was to be against the winner of Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Matt Serra had to pull out of UFC 79 due to a back injury sustained during training,"Matt Serra pulls out of UFC 79 title fight with back injury", retrieved from "The General's Orders", URL accessed February 4, 2009 and instead St-Pierre faced Hughes in a rubber match for the Interim UFC Welterweight Championship. Hughes was unable to mount any serious offense against St-Pierre, who again showcased his wrestling skills by not only avoiding all of Hughes' takedown attempts, but also taking Hughes down at will."UFC 79 - Round-by-Round Updates and Live Results", retrieved from MMAjunkie.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 In a reversal of their first fight, St-Pierre attempted a kimura on Hughes' right arm,"Fight metric: Hughes vs. St-Pierre III by the numbers", retrieved from MMAWeekly.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 then switched to a straight armbar with fifteen seconds left in the second round. Hughes fought the extension, but with his left hand trapped between St-Pierre's ankles, was forced to verbally submit at 4:55 of the second round,"UFC 79 'Nemesis' Play-by-Play", retrieved from Sherdog.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 making St-Pierre the interim Welterweight Champion. After the fight, St-Pierre said that the interim belt was a great honor but meant nothing to him, as Matt Serra was still the real champion. Becoming the undisputed Welterweight Champion At UFC 83 on April 19, 2008, St-Pierre fought Matt Serra to determine the undisputed UFC welterweight champion. It was the UFC's first event in Canada and was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec."UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2", retrieved from CanadastarBoxing.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Instead of starting with strikes, St-Pierre pressed the action early with a takedown and then mixed up his attack, which never allowed Serra the chance to mount a significant offense."UFC 83 Play-by-Play", retrieved from Sherdog.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 In the second round, St-Pierre continued his previous actions and forced Serra into the turtle position and delivered several knees to Serra's midsection."UFC 87 odds: Seek & Destroy", retrieved from Pointspread.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Near the end of round two, the fight was stopped by referee Yves Lavigne with Serra unable to defend himself from St-Pierre's continuous knee blows or improve his position. After the fight, in response to the crowd's reaction to Serra, St-Pierre asked the crowd to restrain themselves and show Serra some respect. Serra in turn bowed graciously before St-Pierre. Defending the title St-Pierre's first title defense since winning the belt back was against Jon Fitch at UFC 87. Fitch was on a sixteen fight winning streak, eight within the UFC, and was going into the fight with the chance of setting a new UFC record for longest winning streak, which would have been nine. St-Pierre defeated Jon Fitch by unanimous decision with scores of 50–43, 50–44, 50–44,"Georges St-Pierre scores a unanimous UFC 87 decision Over Jon Fitch", retrieved from Kocosports.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 to retain his UFC welterweight title. Throughout the fight, St-Pierre dominated Fitch, scoring multiple devastating strikes and taking the former Purdue wrestling captain to the mat seemingly at will. After the fight St-Pierre spoke to Fitch about the growth that his own loss had prompted and said that Fitch's experience should be no different. The win over Fitch set up one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history, as B.J. Penn stepped into the octagon after the fight to essentially challenge St-Pierre to a rematch of their bout at UFC 58 in 2006, which ended in a split-decision victory for St-Pierre. The rematch occurred on January 31, 2009, at UFC 94. The first round of the fight was somewhat even, with Penn exercising elusive head movement, fast hands, and good take-down defense, thwarting all of St-Pierre's take-down attempts while both exchanged punches. In the ensuing three rounds, however, Penn turned out a lackluster performance. St-Pierre scored his first take-down of the night midway through the second round, and by the end of the round Penn was visibly tired. At the start of round three, St-Pierre landed a superman punch that bloodied Penn's nose and shortly took Penn down again. From that point on, St-Pierre took Penn down almost at will, repeatedly passing Penn's guard and persistently punished the Hawaiian with a ground-and-pound attack."UFC 94 Round-by-Round Updates and Official Results", retrieved from MMAJunkie.com, URL accessed July 2, 2009 Penn later admitted that he couldn't recall anything that happened during the 3rd and 4th rounds because "I was probably borderline knocked out or something.""BJ Penn: I'm Still The Light Weight Champ. Let's Keep Fighting.", retrieved from bjpenn.com, URL accessed February 19, 2009 At the end of the fourth round, after more of St-Pierre's ground-and-pound onslaught, Penn's corner man Jason Parillo requested that the referee stop the fight. After the fight, Penn failed to attend the post-fight press conference due to having stayed in the hospital. During and after the fight, there arose some conflict surrounding the actions of Phil Nurse, who was working as GSP's cut-man. Nurse was seen after round 1 rubbing St-Pierre's back and shoulders, which, the Penn camp claimed, was Nurse applying Vaseline to GSP and what ultimately led to Penn's defeat. The UFC does not allow Vaseline to be applied to the back. It was formally investigated by the UFC and Nevada State Athletic Commission upon the request of the Penn camp, including a letter from Penn's mother to Dana White about the incident. Upon investigation, all claims were dismissed as false and warranted no disciplinary action or further investigation. After this so-called "Grease Gate", it was decided that fighters must receive the good luck hug from their coaches before having vaseline applied on the face by UFC officials before entering the cage, in order to make sure no vaseline is applied on the body of the fighters. Following his win over Penn, St-Pierre fought and defeated number-one contender Thiago Alves at UFC 100. Alves showed promise on his feet standing up in the fight, but St-Pierre's wrestling offensive, endurance and ground control proved too much for the challenger, and put St-Pierre en route to a unanimous decision victory, despite suffering a pulled groin muscle in the fourth round. While St-Pierre said in his post fight interview that the injury was sustained in the third round, he later said on his blog"UFC 100 Notable Moments", retrieved from YardBarker.com, URL accessed July 16, 2009 that the injury in fact occurred in the fourth round. On July 18, 2009 it was revealed that St-Pierre's groin injury would not require surgery."Georges St. Pierre Won’t Need Surgery For Groin Injury", retrieved from MMAWaves.com, URL accessed March 17, 2010 A scheduled bout between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann would have determined the number 1 contender to the UFC Welterweight Championship. In early September, Swick pulled out of the fight due to an injury, effectively cancelling the title elimination aspect of the fight. After Martin Kampmann lost to Paul Daley at UFC 103, a fight between Swick and Dan Hardy was announced for UFC 105. The winner of that fight, who turned out to be Dan Hardy, earned the number 1 contender spot to challenge St-Pierre for the Welterweight title."Mike Swick vs. Dan Hardy to determine number one contender for Georges St. Pierre", retrieved from mmajunkie.com, URL accessed March 17, 2010. St-Pierre's next fight was against Dan Hardy on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111 in Newark, New Jersey."Georges St-Pierre vs Dan Hardy Official for UFC 111", retrieved from brokeyou.com, URL accessed March 17, 2010 St-Pierre controlled the fight for the entirety of the five rounds, taking Hardy to the ground at will and landing strikes from top mount. St-Pierre also managed to take Hardy's back at several different times throughout the fight, and was close at finishing the fight with both an armbar and, later, a kimura; Hardy, however, refused to tap out in either submission attempt. The fight went the entire five rounds and St-Pierre was awarded the unanimous decision by the fight judges to retain his Welterweight title.UFC 111: St-Pierre vs Hardy 2012 Summer Olympics It was revealed on January 2nd that St. Pierre was considering leaving MMA so he could try out for the Canadian freestyle wrestling team and compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics."GSP still considering wrestling at 2012 Games", retrieved from TSN.ca, URL accessed February 6, 2010 Though many sources have stated (his wrestling coaches in particular) that he is a great wrestler but would have to spend many years before he can even make the olympic team. St-Pierre himself actually cleared it up in the interview saying that he was overconfident of himself and that in the end wasn't a serious statement. Acting career St-Pierre has acted in two films, both written by martial artist Hector Echavarria. He will play "The Shaman" in Death Warrior, and Georges in Never Surrender. Championships and awards Mixed martial arts *'TKO Major League MMA' ** *'Ultimate Fighting Championship' ** ** Other awards *'MMAPayout' **Fighter of the Year 2009 *'World MMA Awards' **Fighter of the Year 2009 *'Sports Illustrated ' **Fighter of the Year 2009 *'Lionel Conacher Award' **Runner-up *''Inside MMA'' on HDNET **Fighter of the Year 2009 *'MMAJunkie.com' **Fighter of the Year 2009 *'Ask Men' **Ranked as #36 in the 2009 Top 49 Most Influential Men *'Fighters Only' **2008 Submission of the Year *'Men's Fitness' **Top 25 Fittest Guys in the World 2009 *'Rogers Sportsnet' **Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year **Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards' **Most Outstanding Fighter Mixed martial arts record Entrance music St-Pierre is noted for using French language rap music during his entrance walks."UFC entrance themes listing", retrieved from MMAFighting.com, URL accessed February 4, 2009 Notes and references External links *UFC profile for Georges St-Pierre *Official website of Georges St-Pierre * *Georges St-Pierre's official blog *Georges St-Pierre's Facebook page *George St-Pierre on Twitter Category:Canadian mixed martial artists Category:Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title holders